Monthly Archives: February 2014

So, recently I turned back to Linux and I was sick of Windows and NSA and all that crap. And my all time favourite for a desktop still remains Linux Mint. So I got myself a 64-bit Linux Mint 16 (Petra), installed ..and so far so good. Surely, I had some issues with ATI proprietary drivers, especially in Google Chrome which actually have solve by accessing chrome://flags and changing some stuff around. But today, as I own a Samsung Smart TV, I needed my desktop to stream my Rhythmbox to it. (I don’t use Banshee, the default player, ..well, just not a fan)

Anyways, so if you need to stream your output to a Samsung SmartTV, this is what you’ll have to do: (in the mean time, give the middle finger for Samsung, as they’re not planning on doing Samsung Link for Linux)

This will transcode everything to FLAC and advertise this as “FLAC audio on @HOSTNAME@”. I did this because around half of my music collection is actually FLAC. To transcode to mp3, replace the following block:

This morning I’ve ordered a level 1 VPS from Host1Plus. I’ve wanted to do that for a long time, but I wasn’t very impressed by CPU offer. Yesterday when I checked their offer, I’ve seen they’re offering 1 core for the entry-level plan, so I ordered a level 1 for 2 years. Paid with my VISA card this morning and I had my VPS by the time I woke up after my afternoon sleep – yeap, I sleep in the afternoon, so what?!

So, here is the offer:

That’s cool, 1 core just for me. So I created my account, paid for 2 years and wait quietly for them to set up my new VPS. After few hours, as their email didn’t come, I checked my client area page and saw that:

(yeap, I’ve deleted the IP Addresses field)

Anyway, I saw the 50% CPU and decided to dig deeper into it, and found out that:

So it seems that the web interface in client area was right. Instead of having full 3.4GHz core, I only have 1696MHz, which, you already guessed, is around 50%. Nice, so not one core, just a half of it. So I thought there’s an error in the template they’re deploying, so I entered a live chat with a support guy. Here are some parts of it. First, we talk about what the website says:

16:48 Host1Plus: Well you have 1 CPU core with 50% of it’s speed16:48 Me: yeap16:49 Me: shouldn’t I have 1 core with 100% speed?16:49 Me: http://www.host1plus.com/vps-hosting/16:50 Me: it clearly states 1 core, not half core16:52 Host1Plus: Your server can use 50% of 1 CPU core, that is defined in service configuration16:52 Me: Yes, but what I just bought is 1 full core, not half of it16:53 Me: and VPS hosting level 1 means 1 full core, 256MB ram and 15GB of disk space16:53 Me: if you need, I can send you a print screen of your website16:54 Host1Plus: I am afraid it does not state in the plans that level 1 has 1 full core, it shows that it includes 1 core16:54 Me: exactly, 1 core, not 0.5 core16:56 Host1Plus: It seems there is misunderstanding in our communication, have you checked how much CPU speed it shows inside your server ?16:56 Me: before buying a host1plus VPS I had a free one, which clearly stated I don’t have a full CPU core16:56 Me: model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHzstepping : 9cpu MHz : 1696.06016:57 Me: exactly half of 1 core16:57 Host1Plus: Half of it’s speed, not the core itself16:58 Me: you can’t split a CPU core in 216:58 Host1Plus: That’s why it shows 50%16:58 Me: so, I see 2 options: 1. you’re misguiding clients or 2. service configuration not updated with the specs from the site16:59 Host1Plus: If it would be 100% then you could all 3.40GHz16:59 Me: exactly!16:59 Me: which currently, I don’t

So yes, they are showing 1 core, but you only get half. Wait, it’s getting better:

Everything alright with the plans, I’m sure, but not alright with the website. So, although on level3 and level4 it says you get 2 cores, you get 1.5 cores for level 3, 2 cores for level4 and 3.5 cores instead of 4 for level 5. Fucking marketing department!

This is funny:

17:16 Host1Plus: Unfortunately, I don’t see the reason why your server should have more CPU speed than it’s defined in the configuration, you have ordered level 1 even without asking about it’s specifications before ordering

Why not calling you anyways? And just have contact info on your website? That should avoid this kind of issues. But, as long as you’re writing something on your website, ..I would expect to pay for what I see, not for what you mean. Now, the refund option:

7:18 Me: ok, upgrading is not an option, but as it’s not even 1 day since I bought your product and not pleased because it’s not what it’s advertised, I can surely ask for a refund, right?17:20 Host1Plus: You may get refund only if your request matches with Host1Plus refund policy http://www.host1plus.com/refund-policy/

Here is their refund policy:

Terms that must be met in order to receive a refund:– Refunds are only applicable for monthly hosting service fees;– Refunds are only applicable if we have failed to provide 99% uptime of the service;– Refund is provided only once for a single account of the customer;– Refunds are only applicable for services paid using Credit Cards. If payments were done using 3rd party checkout services (PayPal, etc.) refunds are only provided to clients HOST1PLUS accounts credit balance.

So guess what? Not getting a refund, because it was not a monthly payment. Silly me! Final issue: payment recurrency. I tried to get them to disable it. But:

17:24 Me: how can I make sure it’s not recurring payment? and my card is not credited automatically in 2 years?17:25 Me: should I contact braintree? is there some settings you’ll make to my account?17:25 Me: I wish that in 2 years my card won’t be billed automatically by you17:25 Me: how can I do that?17:27 Host1Plus: If you will cancel the service before the due date, the outstanding invoice will be canceled and you won’t be charged17:30 Me: and there’s no way you can disable recurring payment on this account?17:31 Me: because I might forget the expiration date..17:33 Host1Plus: I am afraid I don’t have permission to disable recurring payment, however, I can advice with the management whether such option could be disabled for you

So I’m left with half core for the next 2 years. Probably enough for what I’m needing this for, but still, someone should modify the website or increase the CPU percentage. In the mean time, don’t trust what’s on host1free.com, get a live chat before trying to buy something from them first.

UPDATE!!!

Yesterday, a Senior Administrator from Host1Plus contact me and asked me if there’s a way we can solve this, as they’re willing to increase my processing power to 1 full CPU, as stated on the webpage when I ordered the package. So, considering template custom changes were not a solution, I got upgraded to the Level 2 VPS for free for the rest of my billing period, which yes, gives me a full CPU, but also double memory (512MB instead of 256MB) and bigger swap. Also, noticed they changed their offer to clearly state 0.5CPU instead of 1. And I guess I’ll continue with level 2 after this, looks better for my tests.

So, after seeing they’re actually concerned about their customers, at least the ones that own a blog, I can recommed them to be quick and fast in processing orders and support tickets. Prices are more than ok, too!